when mr. potato head was courting the future mrs. potato head, did he send her a mash note? >> i'm sure he did. somewhere along the line, i'm sure he did. but you know what? that's between those two. >> reporter: in 1964, responding to parents' complaining about rotting potatoes, the two birds got plasticors sews which doubled in size ten years later. along the way, they collected a lot more accessories. how many different parts are there? >> there are 365 different parts for the potato head that we've got going on right now. >> reporter: no wonder he needs that tater tush compartment. yes, that's what it's called. according to mathematicians at columbia university, those hundreds of parts allow for over 500 billion, septillion possible configurations. >> no matter what generation it was, there was always something about his funny personality and kind of the mix and match parts aspect of it that appealed to everybody. >> i'm picasso. >> in 1995 this portly pair went hollywood, alongside woody and buzz light-year in the blockbuster film "toy story." >> oh, my hero. the succes